Raven
by zakenna.d
Summary: Saphryn and her brother Fray were special. They were the only teenagers seen as a danger to the king and were transferred from prison to prison. By stroke of luck, Saphryn get another chance to escape. Enter a man called Warrior, by the commoners and his rebel group of seven. When two teams unite the king will be in for the fight of his life, especially with a traitor in his midst.
1. Chapter 1

The clouds lay motionless against the pale night sky. The grass below not showing even the slightest hint of green. Even water dared not flow, but to escape its fate. Silence weighed down heavily on all the people. The land and all the inhabitants were dying out, caught up in the war raging on over all the kingdom. They had but one hope left. There had been rumors of a worrier more powerful than any other who was on a mission to save the land from the growing danger. Little did they know just how much was depending not on the one they called master and savior, but a young child whose life was spent on the run. A fourteen year old girl who was hated by all those around her.

Light streamed in through a small gap in the wall. Saphryn shot up immediately hitting her head on a wooden beam. At the same time the cuffs around her wrists dragged her back down again banging her head on the beam. She let out a breath while boosting herself up more gently careful to avoid another bruise. She had been a prisoner here for a matter of hours, and had not yet gotten used to the idea of this facility being impenetrable, or at least called impenetrable even though she'd managed to make it a few miles away from the gates a couple of times. Of course her freedom didn't last long before they caught her again. In the past three hours she'd managed to sound the alarms at least a dozen times which was most likely their reasoning for knocking her out this time.

Before Saphryn had the chance to try for the eighteenth time, a voice echoed through the halls. It was a voice she recognized immediately as the man who brought her into the hell-hole she was now staying in. He entered swiftly so as not to allow his hostage to escape. "Do you truly plan on trying to get out of here so quickly?" His voice was dripping with mock surprise. "Trust me, if the general has a say, and he does, you won't ever be leaving this facility." Saphryn glared back at him, her eyes full of disdain. "That look won't do you any good either. I would advise against such behaviors during your stay with us."

Saphryn spat at the man's feet. "Over my dead body." The man laughed then sneered at her as if to say that such a task could be arranged. She gazed back. Then she found an opening in the man's guard. "Would you rather I pretend to be a good girl while planning your death down to the last detail?"

At this point the man was laughing like she'd just told him that he was her crush. He knew the girl seated in front of him could not be more serious about this question. "It would be easier for you that way." He paused not sure what to do next. Then he came to a conclusion. "Alright," he began. "you can ask me any questions you want that don't concern escaping in exchange for your cooperation." There was no going back now that he had set a bargain. "Do you accept?" Saphryn nodded in response. "Good. Now where would you like to start?" He stared at Saphryn expectantly.

For a moment there was no response. Then Saphryn began her inquiry. "What is your name, and why did you bring me here?" She thought it was a pretty good starting point, but also used it to test if the man was being truthful or if he was just trying to keep her out of trouble.

The man nodded. The girl had a good strategy in play. "Very well. My name Tyler Dalen. I brought you here because the general was looking for anyone who could help him to put an end to the war. He was planning to get your mother or father instead, but when they disappeared he decided that you would have to do. I was sent to pick you up, and keep an eye on you until he called for you. Since you were so intent on escaping I had to chain you to your cell." Saphryn's gaze told him to continue and he didn't want to get on her bad side. She most likely wanted to know why she was a target to the general. "Your family was trained in war craft from a young age. The general decided that since you father was the best in the business that you would have been trained by him as well." There was no more he could tell her because he knew nothing else on the matter.

Saphryn sat still for a time pondering what Tyler had told her. "Have they found my parents yet?" She didn't need to ask because she already knew the answer. She would have at least been told if they had managed to hunt them down. Not to mention that they really wanted her father instead of a fourteen year old girl with little to no control of her emotions. Saphryn could hardly imagine her father as a soldier of such horrid people. "What are they going to do if they can't find either of them in time," She asked feeling a hint of fear deep in her heart. "and why would they care to have a girl in their life who would do them no good?"

Tyler just stared at her. He could only dream of an answer for Saphryn's second question, and saw no point in answering either when she knew very well what he would say. His gaze again fell from the child's watchful eyes. It was then that his mind finally cleared. He looked again at Saphryn seeing her with new eyes. "You look so much like your father." He whispered. The fire in her sapphire eyes, and the striking white color of her smooth hair. She also had a muscular build even though it wasn't as noticeable as it would have been on a boy. Tyler could remember the man well. It was no doubt that he had taught Saphryn everything he knew about swordplay as well as martial arts. The girl's mother must have also taught her much of what she knew in her area of work which was still unknown. There was truly no wonder why the general wanted such a fine family on his team. He would never allow Saphryn to leave the facility alive if he had any other choice that kept her there. At long last he decided to continue the talk. "There truly is no point in trying to leave again, but I will give you one more question. This one doesn't need any boundaries so you can ask about escaping if you want to, but the others will be on guard for any more attempts to get out of here."

Saphryn looked at him as if she was reading into his soul. "Alright." she replied after thinking for a minute. "How can I leave this place unseen, and unknown without you or anyone else trying to stop me." The question could not have been posed more perfectly than how Saphryn had just put it.

It took Tyler a while to process what she had asked. "There is no way that I can think of, and even if I could, you wouldn't make it very far. At least not on your own." He laughed after seeing Saphryn's darting glances.

"Well there is one way that I can think of." Saphryn muttered under her breath. Then louder she said, "What if I were to get you to call a council?"

Tyler nodded clearly deep in thought. He knew what the girl was thinking. "I really do want to help you, but you know as well as I that I took a oath of loyalty to this facility. I can't let you escape." He paused a moment. In that one instant he knew exactly how to go about this. "I'll tell you what. Later tonight I will call a council to discuss making the defenses better, and keeping the prisoners more or less contained." Saphryn nodded in response. "During the meeting is the only time you'll be able to escape. After that the defences around you would be much greater since you seem to be such a big part of our troubles."

Saphryn saw very few flaws with his idea, and by now had decided to go along with it. "How do I get out of the cell without setting off the alarms?" She stared on doubtfully at the man before her. His eyes were full of mischief, and he was fidgeting with a thread on the sleeve of his royal blue, army uniform.

Tyler laughed. He'd completely forgotten about that part. Again he thought of a plan. "When the servant comes to bring you dinner I will send with her a letter, and say it's from the general. Inside I will put my master key and a map of the building including all five floors."

With all the details worked out Tyler went back to work, leaving Saphryn alone to think. _Why does he lock me up then help me escape?_ She thought to herself. _It doesn't make any sense, but he did answer all my questions truthfully. It must be a trap. What else could it be?_ She looked again at the conversation she had with Tyler. Something about it seemed rather off. He had said that he took an oath of loyalty. _He would be dead before he would betray the others._

While Saphryn was still in thought a servant had entered and set a small tray in front of the her. The meal before her consisted of a slice of stale bread, and a tiny cup of water. Next to the bread there was an envelope addressed to her. The servant stood and left without a word. As soon as the sound of the woman's steps faded out Saphryn grabbed the letter and carefully eased the seal up piece by piece until she could take out the parchment inside. True to his word, Tyler had sent her a map of the area, the key, and a quickly drafted note. Even then Saphryn wasn't about to trust him. She then turned her attention to the letter. It read:

 _Dear Saphryn,_

 _The council men have taken the bait. From now on it's up to you to get out when you see the signal._

Saphryn frowned. He hadn't mentioned anything about a signal, and a bad feeling was beginning to grow inside her. She was now confident the whole thing was a set up, but she wasn't going to fall for it. She then decided to continue.

 _You'll know it when you see it. The meeting should start at at eight-o-clock. You must be ready by then. When I give the signal run as fast as you can to the third floor training room. Be careful. On the way there you may run into a few guards. If one of them catches you then you're as good as dead. In the training room there is a door hidden under the tapestry. This passage will lead you to the forest you saw during your last attempt. Time is growing short. I must wait to see you again._

 _Good luck,_

 _Tyler Dalen_

Saphryn set the note down careful to hide it from any prying eyes. She then took the key, and unlocked the cuffs around her wrists with much difficulty. Slowly she crept toward the small crack in the wall. After analyzing the shadows she could tell that it was about eight already. She also noticed that a group of soldiers was heading to the council hall.

At the foot of one of the guard towers a red flag was being waved. From what she knew, the red flag had been a signal to the prisoners in an enemy camp that it was time for a classic break-out. She too had seen it as a sign, and had begun her part of the plan. _It doesn't matter if it's a trick or not. I won't know until I try._ She reasoned as she fit the master key into the lock built in on the door of her cell. The movement made the door squeal as the metal hinge pieces rubbed against each other. She shivered. Even if Tyler was telling the truth such a loud noise would surely draw the attention of one of the guards. She paused for a time to make sure. It was then that she decided to continue.

Within five minutes she had managed to make it from the basement level to the third floor. Saphryn scanned her map for the hundredth time. She was sure she was going the right way, but at the same time didn't want to take any chances. The parchment led her to a big oak door which appeared to be twice her size. The knob was made from gold plated steel. She knew at once that whoever was in charge of the troops who stayed in the facility was a man of many flaws. The rough surface seemed to reflect the personality of the leader. This man was troubled, and cared very little for anyone but himself. His heart was like stone while the air about him was reflective of his current situation. Over all he would likely be a formidable opponent.

After a short pause, Saphryn swung the door open. The inside looked nothing like the training rooms she had seen before. There were chairs crowded into the corners allowing the use of the center floor space. Sure enough, as Saphryn gazed at the beauty of the room she saw the tapestry Tyler wrote about. It depicted an army of men led by the king. The soldiers were all either engaged in battle or protecting the king from those who wished to harm him. Saphryn knew the battle well. It was in this fight that her father had disappeared along with the rest of her family. The battle of Sebralite. He had fought against the shoulders sewn into the fabric. The fight was all because the king refused to care for his people. Because of him many of the people of all ages had died of starvation.

Saphryn had absentmindedly been feeling the stitching, and had been pulled out of her reverie by the sound the fabric hitting iron. The passage Tyler had described to her. Slowly she searched for a door knob finding it under a horse's mane. Saphryn pulled the door from its resting place. What she found before her made her heart skip a beat. Tyler stood next to a small squad of soldiers armed with swords. He laughed after seeing in her eyes that Saphryn hadn't believed him but had come. Immediately the soldiers surrounded her. She was trapped.

"If you come peacefully we promise not to hurt you too badly." One of them spoke though his words were muffled by a helmet. He was grinning the whole time.

Saphryn just laughed. "What makes you think I'd surrender to a bunch of weaklings?" The soldiers made no effort to hide their anger from the insult.

The soldiers closed in on her leaving no escape unblocked. Swords flashed from all directions. Saphryn had managed to dodge all but one which had only slashed her left arm. At the same time she had helped herself to one of theirs that she had pulled from the man's grip with no difficulty. It was then that a light slid through her line of sight, and soon after, the flat of a blade hit her on the back. For a while the impact fogged her vision. She continued to fight for her freedom, and was still able to block all the attacks of her enemies.

After a time she started to trip over herself, and in time fell to the ground unable to stand back up. She stared at the blood rushing out of her cut, and wondered if that was what compelled her to shut her eyes to sleep. With one last breath Saphryn closed her eyes entering a dark abyss.


	2. Chapter 2

p dir="ltr"When Saphryn awoke she again found herself in chains. The only difference was that, this time, each hand was separately chained to walls opposite of each other. Her feet were also hooked up to the floor. It was clear to her that the soldiers thought their set up would immobilize her. They were deadly Saphryn's eyes drifted off to her other surroundings. To her left was a wooden crate rotted by age. Inside she could barely make out the shape of TNT. This wasn't the only problem with their set up. To her right was another old crate holding swords of different models. There were also shields across the room she recognized as the passage entrance behind the third floor training arena. Saphryn could now see that it was actually a storage unit. The real passage was through a door directly behind her jabbing her back./p  
p dir="ltr"There was a sound of crashing blades on the other side of the door. She cringed. Before Saphryn had a chance to look away, the door opened to reveal Tyler and the soldier who had told her to surrender. She looked past them and into the room beyond. The crash was from a shelf of weapons on the far side of the floor./p  
p dir="ltr""Well now, isn't this a surprise?" Tyler asked his friend as if they had no idea how the girl in front of them had gotten there. "Oh Saphryn, why did you try to escape when you knew it was a trap." His voice was filled with faked compassion. He pitied her. "You had better not run off again or there will be consequences." He pulled a medium sized dagger from its sheath. As he drew nearer to Saphryn she fell as far back as she could with her hands and feet bound to keep her from moving. "I warned you this could happen the first time you tried to leave. You should have known it was coming." With that he led the blade across Saphryn's right arm. He had already managed to slash her left./p  
p dir="ltr"The blood spiraled down Saphryn's arm. It was warm to her icy skin. Pain also filled her as she tried to move her arm away from the blade. The dagger then made a turn to keep from ending up as a clean cut. This caused even more blood to flow from the slit./p  
p dir="ltr"Tyler lifted the dagger just in time. He was startled when the same alarm that had gone off every time Saphryn had tried to escape rang out once more. "I'll deal with you later." He said as the two soldiers hurried to their positions on the outside./p  
p dir="ltr"Saphryn just sat where she was waiting for the men to return. It wasn't long before the blood she had lost took its toll. She soon passed out once again. By that point she had entered the abyss many times, and wasn't surprised by the frozen air in the dark place./p  
p dir="ltr"Soldiers rushed from the open gates to defend their base from the intruder. The warrior was silent as he swept another of the soldiers off his feet. To his right a member of his gang took out enemy upon enemy. The warrior laughed. "Aren't you going to save some for me?" he asked pretending to be a strict man completely unlike his true self. He had heard a rummer that there was a prisoner here who had the ability to heal the the land. At this point he was just hoping the rummer was true and that he hadn't risked all he had for nothing./p  
p dir="ltr"The boy at his side just laughed, and dodged one of his enemies to allow the warrior a fight. The man was down before a second strike. "Go release the prisoners now. I have a feeling these are the last of the guards." The boy was right. Only seven men still stood, and each had been wounded. Warrior nodded in agreement and went on his way./p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior passed many rooms on his way to the dungeon. In most all of them there was a stock of weaponry as well as a map of the villages the army had taken over. He had passed at least a dozen of these areas before at last making it to the stairs leading down. Walking down the stone steps he noticed a wall that had been decorated with tally marks. There were seventeen in all. Above he saw an inscription. "Number of attempts" He read aloud. "Someone must have been hard set on escaping." he noted chuckling a bit. He had never heard of so many attempts in his life. "It must be more than one person. Maybe they were trying to start a riot."/p  
p dir="ltr"Again the warrior set off to the dungeon. When he got there he found the doors wide open and completely unguarded. It was then that he heard a voice from a near by cell. "Please," The voice was that of a old man the warrior noted as he got closer. "Please help us." he rasped./p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior quickly looked around for the keys. He spotted them on a metal hook near the door he'd just walked through. As soon as he had them he unlocked the door to the cell nearest to him. "Thank you so very much." The man said as he stood. "Might I be able to assist you in freeing the others?" he asked./p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior stared at him. His figure was crippled from being in the cell so long. Every part of his body was worn from old age except his eyes which shone with great knowledge. "If you wish to I would be grateful for the help." The warrior replied as he opened another cell. He cupped both hands around the key. There was a small flash of light, and his hands separated revealing two keys where there had only been one. He handed the duplicate to the prisoner./p  
p dir="ltr"Together they released all the prisoners on that floor. They then moved to the lower levels where the more dangerous enemies were held. After what seemed like hours the warrior had managed to get them all outside. Only after that did one of the most dangerous prisoners come up to the warrior to say anything other than a word of thanks. "There is one more inside." He said quietly to the man who had saved him. "She was in the cell across from mine."/p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior looked at the boy, once again puzzled. "There was no one in the cell across from yours. I clearly remember it being empty," he spoke while rethinking the situation. "And I saw no girl when releasing you or any of the others." Of that he was sure./p  
p dir="ltr"The boy just shook his head. "She disappeared last night on another breakout attempt." He recalled pulling a piece of parchment from the pocket of his old jeans. "After you got me out I went to see what she had hidden under a rock in the corner." He passed it to the warrior. "I have a feeling that she is still in the passage behind the third floor training room." He knew it was a trap and also knew that if she were to get out he wouldn't be feeling such high levels of raw power in the air./p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior quickly skimmed the note trying not to show any reaction. "You're right." He admitted after reading through the letter three times. "There is a good chance that she is still in the passage. Can you lead me to it?" The boy nodded. "By the way, you said that this girl made a number of attempts to escape right?" The boy again nodded. "Exactly how many attempts did she make before she disappeared?"/p  
p dir="ltr"The boy smiled. He couldn't wait to see the warrior's face when he answered. "The one you just read about was her eighteenth attempt since she came here." As he'd anticipated the warrior's reaction was nothing short of pure disbelief./p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior was still stuck on how a girl could escape her cell enough for every attempt to go on the wall when they came to the door of the third floor training room. The two went to work immediately on finding the door. It took them only a few minutes to find and pass through to the room beyond. It was there that they found a girl passed out while chained to the wall with blood flowing down both her arms. There was already a puddle at her feet. "We need to get her out of here, fast." The boy said as he tried to smash one of the cuffs that encircled her wrists. They had her unchained in no time. "I'll carry her." He offered when the warrior bent down to pick her up. "I know a healer from one of the cells not far from mine. I'm sure he'll be happy to help." With that they moved more slowly to join the others in the field just outside the facility./p  
p dir="ltr"When they got out to the others more than a few of the more dangerous prisoners came to see what was going on. One man offered to take the girl while another asked if he should go to get the healer. All the others just lingered near by waiting for her to wake up./p  
p dir="ltr"It took the healer a while to get to where the girl lay on the ground. He inspected the wounds on both arms, but made no action to heal either. "The cuts are too deep for me to heal with such little power. The best I can do is cover the wounds to stop the flow of blood." He spoke softly so nobody other than the warrior would hear the news. "She would need to be taken to an expert healer."/p  
p dir="ltr"Just after the healer finished tying a piece of cloth over over the cut the girl began to regain consciousness. It took her a second to process her surroundings, but when she did she was wide awake. "Where am I?" she asked confused. She then saw the boy from the cell across her own. "Fray? What's going on?"/p  
p dir="ltr"She tried to stand, but the boy, Fray, stopped her. "Calm down Saphryn. You're safe here. Besides you need time to heal. You lost a lot of blood." The warrior moved to get a closer look at the girl who seemed to be close friends with most of the deadly people locked up in the dungeons. Fray caught his gaze. "This is the man who bested the guards and released the prisoners." he continued pointing to the warrior. "He's also the one who helped me find you again." He blushed for a moment./p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior entered the conversation for reasons not even he knew. "Your friend was worried when you didn't return. He'd read the letter you received during dinner, and knew it was a trap." Saphryn looked at Fray with mock surprise. They had been together all their lives, and had managed to create an unbreakable bond. "If it weren't for him you would still be chained up." The warrior just stared at Saphryn when he was done speaking. He was half expecting her to disappear any time now. The worst part was that he had no idea why he felt this way. "By any chance do either of you know where I might be able to find the wizard with the power of nature? My team received information that he might have been held here."/p  
p dir="ltr"Saphryn paled and many of the people belonging to the deadly group froze and stared at Saphryn and the warrior. "The wizard you speak of calls himself the sapphire knight and is actually a emshe/em." Saphryn said at last. "She did come here though the soldiers on duty to transport her had made absolutely sure that nobody knew about the transfer."/p  
p dir="ltr""I see." The warrior replied deep in thought. "Thank you for the information."/p  
p dir="ltr"By that point the conversation had stopped, and a crowd had gathered to see how Saphryn was doing. "I'm can promise you that I'm quite alright." She assured one of her new found friends./p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior continued to watch the commotion until his team found him."So did you find the wizard or was it another miss?" A seventeen year old boy asked shivering at the thought of breaking into another heavily guarded base for nothing. He looked into his leader's eyes. "Are you okay? You seem a little out of sorts at the moment." He noted worried that the man in front of him had taken his battles too many at a time./p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior just sat where he was staring into space. "Yes, I'm alright, but in answer to your first question, I have no idea." The teenager sighed. Something was on his mind that he wasn't going to tell anyone as long as he had a choice. "By the way I have a proposition."/p  
p dir="ltr"The whole team looked at their leader expecting him to suggest another place to look for the wizard who healed land. "And what might that be?" A man in his early twenties pressed trying to end the situation quickly./p  
p dir="ltr""Do you all see that girl over there?" Everyone turned to look at the teenage girl talking to some of the others. They then nodded simultaneously unsure of what a young girl would had to do with one of the team's choices. "I was told by her friend that she had managed to break past the outer walls seventeen times and had only been caught before the wall once on her eighteenth try." The team showed no reaction, but the warrior knew they had just found a new respect for the girl. "Her friend Fray also told me that she was separated from her family as a child. That means that she has nowhere to go now that she's been released. I was thinking that we could take her in and have her and Fray become part of our team if they agree to our terms."/p  
p dir="ltr"It was one of the teenagers who spoke up first. "You do realize that she would be the only girl in the group, correct?" His voice was filled with uncertainty. He'd never expected there to be an addition to the group, but was looking forward to the change if it would take place. "Either way I agree. It would be nice to have more people. We never know what talents she might bring to the table, but I'm positive that they will come in handy at some point." There was a murmur around the circle. Most of them could see that she would make a good bonus to their team./p  
p dir="ltr""Let's take a vote." A second teenager a little younger than the first declared. "All those in favor of inviting the girl and her friend into our group?" All eight of the men in the circle raised their hands. "Any opposed?" He asked when he knew there was no point. "Then it's all set. Since you suggested it pops, you get to ask them."/p  
p dir="ltr"Nodding, he stood quickly and was rewarded with a short headache which caused him to be blinded temporarily. As the warrior made his way to the group that took up much of the space available in the meadow the prisoners moved aside to form a path. It was then that Saphryn saw him heading her way. "What's up?" She asked separating herself from the others. She rubbed the back of he neck slightly lowering her eyes from his. "Hey," she began shyly. "Thanks again for helping us all break free from the facility."/p  
p dir="ltr"The warrior smiled. He knew that Saphryn would have made it out eventually even without his help. "No problem," He said at last. "I wouldn't have guessed that any of the prisons would hold such a variety of people." Saphryn laughed. He had no idea how right he was. "Anyway, I've been talking to your friend, Fray I believe, and he told me that you haven't got a place to go now that you've been freed." It was there that he paused unsure of how to continue. "I talked this over with my team, and they agreed that if you two want to join us that they would be happy to let you."/p  
p dir="ltr"Saphryn stared at the man in front of her trying to read his thoughts through his expression. "You're serious aren't you?" She asked suddenly. "I don't want to be a burden to any of you." He nodded silently. "You don't have to take me in. Fray and I have been living alone for the past six years. I can take care of myself ."/p  
p dir="ltr""I insist that you come with us."/p  
p dir="ltr"Saphryn, still uncertain, took a step back. "I don't know if that's a good idea. The solders will be on the lookout for the breakout people with a higher chance of offsetting their plans. If I come with you it could get all of you killed."/p  
p dir="ltr"It was another man that stepped forward. "If that's how you look at the situation then we would also be on that list of people for the solders to watch out for." He countered. "If some of the ex-prisoners got together with a group of rebels they will be less willing to go after either group without backup."/p  
p dir="ltr""He has a point" Fray added leaning against the trunk of a tree near by. "The only problem is that she has a special relationship with one of their solders and hasn't been mentally able to harm him in any way for six years because she still cares for him." His attention was turned to the team before him once again. "And their general knew this and used it to his advantage may times."/p  
p dir="ltr""It's not my fault I grew up with him as a brother!" Saphryn shouted. "I can't control who the family is!" She threw herself against the tree opposite Fray's. "You know very well that the information you just presented only held true until seven months ago, and besides I'm not going to murder anyone. Making him pass out is good enough for now. If it gets to the point where I have to draw blood I will but not until it's absolutely necessary."/p  
p dir="ltr""We have all agreed that you can join. There's nobody against it. If you do have a destination in mind we will take you that far." The warrior continued./p  
p dir="ltr"Fray spoke up before Saphryn had the chance. "We'll join." he said quickly. With those two words the day was done and everyone went to bed./p 


End file.
